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CUNAs HandFF Radio show to mark 200th broadcast Sunday

WASHINGTON (3/31/11)--This Sunday, April 3, will mark the 200th broadcast of Home & Family Finance Radio, the weekly personal finance radio show that the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) launched to help foster financial literacy and build the credit union brand. The one-hour program airs Sundays on the Radio America network and is “presented by America’s credit unions.” Each program offers three to five interview segments featuring experts on a wide range of personal finance topics, and responds to questions e-mailed from listeners. The show, which is aimed at a consumer audience, was launched in September 2006 and began airing in 29 media markets. Today it airs in nearly 60 markets nationwide, including Washington, Phoenix, St. Louis, Cleveland, Portland, and Sacramento. Home & Family Finance Radio is also carried each week by the American Forces Radio Network, which beams it to U.S. military bases around the world. The show’s podcasts are downloaded more than 5,000 times a month from CUNA's and Radio America’s websites, iTunes and other podcast libraries, and its Twitter page has more than 700 followers. “Each week our program addresses the kinds of pocketbook issues that people discuss around the kitchen table--how to save money and be smarter about their family finances,” said Mark Wolff, CUNA senior vice president of communications and the show’s executive producer. “Over the course of 200 broadcasts, we have provided an extraordinary amount of practical information and guidance to help with basic money management, and in doing so, we are building on the bond of trust that consumers feel toward credit unions. Reaching our milestone 200th broadcast is evidence that our show is resonating with its listeners,” he said. Wolff credited the show’s producer, Marta Trinkl; its host, veteran broadcast journalist Paul Berry (whom credit unions also know as emcee of CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference or GAC) ; and the staff of CUNA’s Center for Personal Finance for the work they do each week to identify topics, line up experts as guests and organize program segments. He also thanked presenting sponsor Co-op Financial Services and national sponsors Cabot Creamery Cooperative and the Defense Credit Union Council for financial support that has enabled CUNA to produce the show. Last year Home & Family Finance Radio was considered for a Peabody award. Prominent guests who have appeared on the program include House Financial Services Committee members Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), (now its chairman); Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Judy Biggert (R-Ill.); NBC "Today Show" personal finance editor Jean Chatzky; ABC "Good Morning America" consumer correspondent Elisabeth Leamy; MSN Money personal finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston; Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine personal finance writer Janet Bodnar; Los Angeles Times’ columnist Kathy Kristof; Consumer Federation of America Executive Director Stephen Brobeck; National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board members; the Comptroller of the Currency; and senior officials from the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. Over the years CUNA has also produced the show live from annual meetings of the Ohio, Georgia, and Texas credit union leagues, the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council, and the CUNA GAC. Guests on this Sunday’s 200th broadcast, which focuses on April as financial literacy month, include NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland on the importance of financial education; Jeannine Glista, co-creator and executive producer of Public Broadcasting System’s Biz Kid$ on teaching kids about money and business; consumer advocate Remar Sutton on the social cost of financial illiteracy; and Pam McClelland, senior policy analyst, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, on the personal finance issues currently having the biggest impact on military personnel.